Born in Chareston, South Carolina in 1916, Alice Childress became a novelist, actress and playwright. She is acknowledged as the only African-American woman to have written, produced and published plays for four decades of the 20th century. She described her work as trying to portray the have-nots in a have society. Hannah Rittner discusses this woman and her work with theatre historian and acclaimed lighting designer Kathy A. Perkins.